<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Child by Rainewritesfanfics</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22911019">The Child</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainewritesfanfics/pseuds/Rainewritesfanfics'>Rainewritesfanfics</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brothers, Gen, Introspection, injuries, new moon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:01:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22911019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainewritesfanfics/pseuds/Rainewritesfanfics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after the death of their father, Sesshomaru encounters the child who cost him everything. He should hate him. But seeing the wounded boy gives him pause.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>InuYasha &amp; Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>150</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Child</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I thought it would be fun to explore Sess learning about hanyou turning human sooner, and realizing that his hatred for humans doesn’t run as deep as he thinks. </p>
<p>I figured him acting like a brother for once makes sense as a precursor to raising Rin.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night was nearly black without the light of the moon to guide nature’s more hapless creatures.</p>
<p>For Sesshomaru, it was merely another night. </p>
<p>He tossed aside a lesser demon who had been foolish enough to to get within striking range and idly flicked the carnage off his claws.</p>
<p>To his left, about a mile away, he heard the crashing of undergrowth as many feet and hooves chased after a light footstep.</p>
<p>The scent of fear caught Sesshomaru’s attention just moments before the scent of blood. </p>
<p>His golden glare narrowed. His sharp nose was assaulted by the subtle presence of his father’s bastard child. A wounded child, apparently.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru stayed in place for a long moment, tuning his senses to the child.</p>
<p>He could barely smell the demonic blood flowing through the boy’s veins. </p>
<p>For a moment Sesshomaru’s heart slowed. Could he be that badly wounded?</p>
<p>Before he could quite process the decision, Sesshomaru’s feet were carrying him through the forest with grace that would shame an elk.</p>
<p>The moonless night was no match for his light step and heightened senses. If there had been a passerby, they might see him as though he was dancing on on midnight winds.</p>
<p>He followed the stench of low class demons. Great, bumbling creatures. He could hardly believe such inferior beings could give the pup trouble. </p>
<p>Sesshomaru tried to recall the year. How old was the child, now? Surely even a hanyou should be able to fend off these youkai.</p>
<p>When Sesshomaru reached the tail end of the caravan that hunted his father’s child, his fingers slashed out. </p>
<p>Common youkai. </p>
<p>Sesshomaru sniffed. The gall they had to seek out any child of Inu no Taisho. </p>
<p>They had no right to the child’s blood. No.</p>
<p>If anyone was going to kill the child, Sesshomaru reasoned as he made quick work of the small fry, it should be him. </p>
<p>This child had cost him his father. The child had taken Sesshomaru’s birthright, though he didn’t yet know it. Sesshomaru should hate him. He almost convinced himself that he did.</p>
<p>And yet, when the child’s scream pierced the air, Sesshomaru couldn’t get there fast enough. </p>
<p>His claws were faster than any samurai sword, and far more deadly. </p>
<p>He could not explain why human blood, pungent and fresh, perfumed the night breeze, almost masking the noble demon blood. </p>
<p>In moments, it was over.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru stood over his wounded brother, his eyes wild, and a boar demon’s head clutched in his right hand. </p>
<p>Inuyasha. That was surely him. Who else could wear those robes?</p>
<p>But that black hair was not his. It was not their father’s. </p>
<p>No, that blood-stained face belonged to his father’s human wife. The black locks, as well.</p>
<p>He had read about this, but he’d never thought that he’d witness it. Hanyou turning human once a month. How unfortunate.</p>
<p>It was no wonder so few mixed children survived to adulthood. </p>
<p>Sesshomaru threw the boar head down and pulled the unconscious child into his arms.</p>
<p>Blood soaked dark, blooming patterns into the robe of the Fire Rat. </p>
<p>How old was the child now? 10? Was that how many years it had been since their father died for his human wife?</p>
<p>Love made one foolish, Sesshomaru realized as he took a precious moment to assess the child’s wounds. Had his father simply raised the boy himself, Inuyasha would have been safer. He would know how to fight. </p>
<p>The boy’s human mother had died again when her pup still needed her. </p>
<p>Sesshomaru’s feet nearly stilled when he realized that the boy was alone. An orphan now. Sesshomaru was long grown, and yet he had a mother to return home to. </p>
<p>Inuyasha had nothing and no one. No village would accept him. No clan. </p>
<p>The son of a demon general and a human princess. He should be a royal twice over. But his parents, with their love, had unwittingly ensured that their child would never have a home.</p>
<p>A ragged gurgle prompted Sesshomaru to keep his path toward the nearby village.</p>
<p>The low burning candles outside the small shrine hinted that dawn was close. Still, Sesshomaru knew that without aid, death would be closer for Inuyasha.</p>
<p>A priestess stood waiting at the top of the steps, her eyes narrowed in a glare when she spotted him. She held an ofuda between her fingers, and had circumstances been different, Sesshomaru might have spared a laugh at the notion of a petty charm stopping him.</p>
<p>Still, he came to a stop when he sensed the barrier around the top of the grounds. </p>
<p>“Be gone, demon,” the girl warned, sliding her foot out and lowering her stance.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru shifted his arms to reveal Inuyasha’s ashen face. </p>
<p>He watched the girl’s face fall, echoing the concern he pretended he was immune to.</p>
<p>“Can you heal him?” </p>
<p>When her dark eyes met his glowing ones, her guard raised again. “Why would you save a human child?”</p>
<p>Sesshomaru pursed his lips, fighting the urge to snarl. Instead, he reached through the barrier, biting his lip against the sacred energy that tore at his own flesh, seeking his demonic aura. </p>
<p>Inuyasha sustained no further injuries as Sesshomaru placed him at the maiden’s feet.</p>
<p>“He does not have long. He was being hunted by a band of demons. Will you heal him?”</p>
<p>The priestess hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded and scooped the child into her arms, struggling with his slack frame.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru turned to leave, but paused before the shrine maiden got too far. </p>
<p>“Miko, that boy is not human, though he will do you no harm as long as you do the same.”</p>
<p>The young woman’s brow furrowed, but she could sense the truth in his words. </p>
<p>Sesshomaru looked at his brother one last time. “And speak nothing of my presence this night. When dawn comes, that child is my enemy once more.”</p>
<p>Before the young woman could get another word in, Sesshomaru leapt backward, vanishing into the shadows once more.</p>
<p>Sesshomaru would admit to no one, not even himself, the sigh of relief escaped him when he encountered Inuyasha crashing through the undergrowth  the following week, under the light of the waxing moon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>